Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • December 2019
Energy
15
Energy Northwest delivers decades of joy to preschoolers For 39 years, employees fulfill students’ holiday wishes BY ROBIN WOJTANIK
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
Santa and his elves will surprise hundreds of Pasco students for the 39th year running when Energy Northwest employees deliver presents as part of the Head Start holiday program that’s served 14,000 children since it began. “People are just so giving at our company,” said Michelle Curtis, a training specialist for Energy Northwest and the company’s Head Start coordinator. “This year, all the children were ‘adopted’ in less than two weeks. That’s the fastest it’s been in a while.” It’s an impressive result considering the number of people who qualify for the Benton Franklin Head Start program continues to increase yearly as the Tri-Cities’ population grows. The program serves babies and preschool-aged children from low-income families in the community. Energy Northwest collects wish lists from preschoolers with a toy they’d like and a clothing item they need. This year’s list included requests from 450 kids, requiring nearly 50 percent of the 1,000 Energy Northwest employees to sponsor at least one child to fill every request. Employees shop for their assigned re-
cipient and then turn the gifts in to the company’s “North Pole,” where they are wrapped and labeled with each child’s name. The company assures equity in the classrooms by making sure each child receives two presents. Many Head Start families have told the company these are the only gifts their child will get this Christmas. This year, Energy Northwest is hosting 16 parties across two days to deliver all the gifts. Six different Santas and elves will visit students on a single day at Head Start’s Sunset Ridge location in west Pasco. One of those Santas is Bob Schuetz, site vice president for Energy Northwest, attended Head Start as a child in New Jersey in the 1960s. “Even though it might be nearly 60 years ago, it still had a very profound impression on me,” Schuetz said. Schuetz still remembers his teacher’s name and said he always looked forward to going to the summer program. “I would not say we were poor. I don’t think I ever wanted for much, but we lived a pretty simple life. This gave us the ability to hang out in an environment that challenged us nearly every day with some
Courtesy Energy Northwest Local preschool students receive gifts from Energy Northwest employees each year as part of the company’s long-running Head Start Holiday program.
type of activity,” he said. Schuetz previously donated his time to Head Start students while serving in the Navy and looks forward to the chance to play Santa to children around the same age as his own grandchildren. “I think it did make a difference in my childhood, I really do, and for my brothers and sisters as well. So if I can have the same impact, or if we, as a company, can have the same impact on these kids today, I know we’ll be much better for it,” Schuetz said.
To qualify for Head Start, most families must live below the federal poverty line guidelines, a threshold that is met if a family of four has an annual income of $25,750 or less. A small percentage of families qualify due to a child with a diagnosed disability. Started in 1965, Head Start reports it is the longest-running national school readiness program in the United States and has served tens of millions of children over the years.